‘X-Files’ Marks the Spot--or Does It?

When evidence of a brain-eating mutant was found in a Southland hamburger stand on TV’s “X-Files,” Agent Mulder said that type of crime wasn’t new. To which partner Scully said, “But this is Orange County.”

After all, viewers were told the eatery was in Costa Mesa.

But was it?

“The truth is out there,” said reader John Aston--and he means on Firestone, not Harbor, Boulevard--because the hamburger stand was actually located in South Gate.

Proprietor Jim Christides of the Lucky Boy stand confirmed that he shut down for a week for filming of the episode.

But why did Mulder and Scully think they were in Costa Mesa? Had some sinister force programmed their minds?

Yes, Aston believes: “The producers.”

HUMAN LANDING STRIP: One Laguna Beach attraction often photographed by tourists is the noggin of Lujack Wilson, 71, which serves as a parking spot for gulls or pigeons on the city’s boardwalk (see photo).

“Nice hat,” a passerby said to Wilson the other day as a gull camped on his University of Tennessee cap. (Pigeons always give the gulls right of way.)

Of course, the birds expect to be fed after landing. “They like cheese and sourdough bread,” said Wilson, a retired Las Vegas blackjack dealer. “They must be French.”

A FREEBIE? Bruno Salomone of Santa Barbara noticed a Thanksgiving ad that took on a different meaning when the hyphen between the words “free” and “range” was left out (see accompanying).

WRITE ON THE BLACKBOARD 100 TIMES. . . . A Web site for a senior citizens facility contained some misspellings that would shame most high school students, Bill Vietinghoff of Thousand Oaks pointed out (see accompanying).

CAR GAMES: The discussion here about the Vincent Thomas Bridge when the toll was 25 cents reminded Gary Kent of Long Beach of an innocent game he used to play. Driving with friends, he would give the toll collector 50 cents and say, “The other quarter’s for the guy behind me,” even though he didn’t know him. He liked to watch the driver’s reaction through his rear-view mirror.

A friend of mine enjoyed a more mischievous drive-up game at fast-food spots. On busy nights, when his turn came to order, he would slowly drive past the squawk box and pull into line for the pickup window.

The busy workers, unaware of the stunt, would give him the order of the car behind him (for which he’d cheerfully pay). Then came the best part, he always said: Parking across the street (in relative safety) and watching the ensuing argument at the drive-up window.

I don’t think he tried this in South Gate, though.

miscelLAny:

Driving east on the 91 toward Riverside last weekend, Linda Garcia saw this on an electronic signboard: RAVE IN LUCERNE CANCELED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

It referred to an underground rock concert, of course. Too bad nobody can get rid of the raving lunatics on the roadways.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.